You work as a junior researcher for a business magazine called 'Enterprise Today'. You have been asked to prepare the background material for one of the magazine's reporters, Tandy Jackson, whom is planning a series of articles on UK Businesses. The articles will feature a variety of businesses of different sizes that belong to different sectors of the economy.
Tandy is currently unsure from what aspect she will focus her articles but each business's ability to cope with what are generally very demanding economic conditions will definitely be one feature she will cover.
Describe the type of business, purpose and ownership of two contrasting businesses P1
Describe the different stakeholders who influence the purpose of two contrasting businesses P2
Describe how the two businesses are organised P3
Explain how their style of organisation helps them to fulfil their purpose P4
Explain the points of view of different stakeholders seeking to influence the aims and objectives of two contrasting organisations M1
Evaluate the influence different stakeholders exert in one organisation D1
Tandy has asked you to start by selecting two local businesses, of contrasting sizes. Preferably one of these should be in the public sector of the economy with the other from the private sector. The research she requires on each business should be done in sufficient detail to be able to clearly describe the following;
Primary/Secondary/Tertiary activities?
What are its business purposes, in terms of products and services and interaction with customers?
Public/private/not-for-profit – voluntary sector?
Local/National/Global?
Ltd or Unlimited Liability, business hierarchy and span of control
A description of the different functional departments that exist and a brief description of their roles.
For each business, Tandy has indicated that with an organisational structure, a page on each should be sufficient to record all necessary information. P1, P3
Explain briefly how the business' style of organisation helps them to fulfil their purpose. P4
Every business has several stakeholders who influence the business operations in many different ways and to varying degrees. For both businesses identify and describe all of the different stakeholder groups. This information can be presented in several different ways although a spider diagram with an arm for each stakeholder is recommended. P2
Individual stakeholders (or stakeholder groups) have different points of view about the businesses in which they have an interest and the way the business conducts its activities. They will normally want to influence the aims and objectives of the business to benefit them. Explain the different points of view of the stakeholders in your two organisations. M1
Now concentrate on just one of your chosen businesses. Carry out an evaluation of the nature and degree of the influence exerted by different stakeholders in that organisation. You will need to use evidence from different sources in support of your evaluation. You will have to make judgements about the relative importance of the different stakeholders in terms of the nature and degree of the influence that they exert. D1